This summer, Peregrine Communications pitched its flag on 44th & Fifth, New York to further bolster its award-winning reputation as a marketing solutions provider. Overseeing the new office is Peregrine veteran Max Hilton.
“We’ve been working with US clients since 2002 but it became apparent that we needed to be on the ground. Sixty per cent of hedge fund managers are based in the US, as are many of the investors into hedge funds. Additionally, New York and London are the two most important investor/media hubs,” says Hilton.
“We are making a major commitment with our new office in New York,” says Anthony Payne, Peregrine Founder & Group CEO. “Max is one of our most experienced client directors, Mirabel Mintz joined from FQS Capital Partners where she handled investor relations, Michaela Morales joined from Prosek Partners and then there’s Peter Roche and Christine Cannon, two seasoned media gurus. Peter started life as a bond reporter for the Wall Street Journal and went on to become VP Corporate Communications at Morgan Stanley. Peter knows the US media landscape chapter and verse.”
In addition to the core team in New York is Chicago-based Ed Dunn; Peregrine’s specialist fund marketing expert who previously ran the institutional investment communications team at T. Rowe Price.
It’s a comprehensive team that Peregrine has built alongside its London operations to be at the vanguard of delivering multi-channel content strategies for hedge funds.
“We believe the way to build a brand in hedge funds is through thought leadership. What does that mean? It means educating investors on your approach to managing their money” says Payne. “We help clients to develop a messaging platform that truly differentiates them from their competitors and reveals their edge as a manager.”
“We package that into a content programme that we then disseminate through email, through the manager’s website, through advertising and events, marketing materials, social media and via contributed articles to the media. That’s what we mean when we refer to providing multi-channel content through an integrated communications approach.”
Previously, traditional managers took a one-dimensional approach to building a brand; often by focusing on performance alone and showcasing their best fund(s). But performance is not the right way to build a 21st Century brand; something that today’s managers are starting to understand says Payne, who believes that branding is the new performance:
“Our approach is to understand the DNA of the partners and ask each of them ‘What is your edge as a manager?’”
“We then bring that together to reveal the overall corporate DNA and deliver it through content that actually moves the needle and helps investors better understand what these managers do.”
In essence what Peregrine is doing is to help managers create an online corporate brochure to strengthen their brand identity.
“When someone types the manager into Google they see multiple messaging displayed: the website, Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube links to corporate videos/presentations, articles published in the media. That’s the power of having a multi-channel communications strategy to achieve a thought leadership objective. It’s a complete messaging platform that communicates a manager’s investment thesis,” says Payne.
As Hilton concludes: “Investors are getting bombarded daily with emails and calls. How do they filter through that abundance of enquiries? They turn to a brand. Branding is fast becoming an evaluation factor.”
This article appeared in the Hedgeweek Special Report.